Reactions to story from IHT
Quake in China reverses fortunes for dissonant Tibet voices
http://iht.com/ articles/ 2008/ 05/ 22/ asia/ tibet.php
The Dalai Lama's cool welcome in European capitals reflects the sudden shift in attitudes toward Tibet since the Sichuan earthquake turned China from victimizer to victim overnight.
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Kedagi enam ei huvita (fotod)
http://www.meikar.ee/blog/?p=510Herald Tribune artikkel ütleb otse välja tõe: ohvriterohke maavärin Hiinas on hävitanud Tiibeti teema. On tavaline, et pärast veriste tänavate puhastamist ajakirjanduse huvi kaob ning uued verised tänavad vallutavad esikülgi. Kuid nüüd on asi veel tõsisem, sest maavärina tõttu peetakse Hiina režiimi kritiseerimist ebaeetiliseks. Minu siiras kaastunne vähemalt 51 000 ohvrile ja nende omastele ning lugupidamine Hiina Rahvavabariigi juhtidele, kes esimest korda ajaloos teataval hulgal rahvusvahelisi abiorganisatsioone maale lubas. See on samm edasi õiges suunas, eriti kui võrrelda naaberriigi Birma sõjaväelise hunta tegevusetusega riiki tabanud veelgi ohvriterohkema katastroofi järel. Siiski ei saa maavärin õigustada neid kuritegusid, mida Hiina režiim on korda saatnud tiibetlaste vastu. Siia, Tiibeti pagulaste keskusesse Dharamsalasse tuleb iga päev uut infot jätkuvatest tapmistest ja piinamistest Tiibetis. Eksiilparlamendi spiiker Karma Chopel nimetas oma kodumaad suureks vanglaks, kust ei saa välja ega sisse ning kus valitseb hirm. Igasugused meeleavaldused Tiibetis tähendavad vähemalt pikka vangistust koos võika piinamisega, kui mitte sõelapõhjaks laskmist otse tänaval. See oli tiibetlastele teada ka enne märtsi demonstratsioonide algust, kuid inimesed tulid ikkagi tänavatele. Karma sõnul on see tõestuseks, et tiibetlased on valmis oma elu kaalule panema, et enam mitte nõustuda okupantide rõhumisega. On ääretult kurb, et maailm on täna pooranud selja tiibetlastele. Kas olukord on seal siis tõesti paranenud? Ei, pigem hullemaks läinud. Kuid rahvusvaheliste organisatsioonide ja ajakirjanike vaba ligipääsu puudumine Tiibetisse, samuti uued “seksikamad” teemad ning põhjendatud kaastunne maavärina ohvritele on hävitamas seda, mille nimel nii paljude inimeste verd on valatud. (Üleval foto kohtumisest Karma Chopheliga ja mungast Dharamsalas asuvas kloostris. Reisist rohkem pilte: Tiibeti fotoalbum) Tiibeti parlamendi spiiker Karma Chophel palus Eestilt kasutada oma positsiooni Euroopa Liidus Riigikogu liige Silver Meikar kohtus täna Dharamshalas, Indias, Tiibeti eksiil-parlamendi esimehe Karma Chopheliga. Kohtumisel räägiti Tiibeti olukorrast pärast märtsi ülestõusu ning võimalustest, kuidas tiiibetlasi aidata. Meikari sõnul ootab Chophel, et Euroopa Liit võtaks läbirääkimistel Hiina Rahvavabariigiga tugeva seisukoha. Hiina peaks koheselt lõpetama vägivalla, avama Tiibeti rahvusvahelistele vaatlejatele ja ajakirjanikele ning alustama sisulist ja mitte üksnes näilikku dialoogi dalai-laama esindajatega. “Tiibet on muudetud vanglaks, kust elanikel puudub võimalus lahkuda ja kus rahvusvahelised organisatsioonid ei saa tegeliku olukorraga tutvuda,” ütles Chopel. “Sündmuste kirjeldused Hiina Rahvaarmee sõdurite julmusest ei tohiks kedagi ükskõikseks jätta.” Meikari sõnul loodab Karma Chopel Eestilt mõistmist ja suuremat toetust tiibetlastele. Eesti peaks seisma selle eest, et Euroopa Liit ei unustaks tiibetlaste muresid. Tiibeti eksiil-parlament tegutseb Dharamshalas, Indias. Alates 1959. aastast on Dharamshala olnud koduks ka dalai-laamale ja paljudele Tiibeti pagulastele. Silver Meikar viibib Dharamsalas nädalasel reisil. Lisaks kohtumistele Tiibeti eksiilpoliitikutega oli Meikaril pühapäeval au osaleda esimeste Tiibeti Olümpiamängude avamisel ning riputada kuldmedalid kaela võitjatele. Eksiilgrupid korraldasid alternatiivsed olümpiamängud, kuna Tiibet ei saa Pekingi olümpial oma lipu all osaleda.
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Out of season
http://sirensongs.blogspot.com/2008/05/out-of-season.htmlMellowed out Kathmandu Everything's so mellow now here, now that "season" is over. Unseasonable rains, perhaps a hangover from Cyclone Nargis, have made what's normally pre-monsoon mugginess quite cool and breezy. All the high-energy level goal-oriented tourists are gone (gotta cross alllll these things off our list so we can say we've done them all!). Now there are more long-termers ("I dunno, just thought I'd see the country, experience it, you know...."), NGO workers, doctoral students and English teachers. Actually they were always here, but now you can see them. Looking Kathmandu "Great, I'll see you at 11," I told my friend Shanda, whom I hadn't seen since an ashram in India, where we were all chastely attired in white sannyasi gear. "But I have to warn you - I'm looking verrrry Kathmandu." In this case, Looking Kathmandu meant I was wearing a screen-printed hand-dyed t-shirt blouse with hippy bell-sleeves and a flaming Yin Yang symbol on it, a day pack made of Guatemala woven fibres, and some long dangly scarf thing from my hair. Kathmandu had finally gotten to me. People who go to India hoping to relive the 60's are about 20 years too late. The place to come is Nepal, specifically Kathmandu. It's one of the last places on earth you can still live in a guest house for as little as $1.50 a day, or if you should choose, wear tie-dye, dreadlocks and bikini tops without causing scandal or harassment, and without the sneering judgmental stares that is so much a part of foreign tourists' India experience. (Before anyone gets huffy, I take surveys. It's unanimous.) (I can always tell when a woman has just come from India - she's still wearing the full punjabi suit and chunni. And I can always tell when someone hasn't been to India yet - they are still wearing spaghetti-strap tops and short skirts.) At one point this winter, hashish (nominally "illegal") was more readily available than gasoline or electricity. Countless embroidery shops on Freak Street still churn out designs of the Freak Brothers, magic mushrooms and marijuana leaf logos. Multi-headed, many-armed Buddhist and Hindu god icons in shop windows merge seamlessly with posters of vintage psychedelia. And the ultra-specialist Bong Shop on Bhagavati Bahal is *not* a place run by Bangladeshis. Other major Asian cities have been taken over by Hindi film music, techno and hip-hop sounds. That won't get you far in Kathmandu, where "Born to be Wild," "Purple Haze" and "Break On Through" blare from every bar in Thamel. Oh, we also have demonstrators - lots of them - and a confrontational police force. Yes, the dream lives on....at least the consumable, marketable elements of the dream with occasional flashes of utopian idealism, before the stick comes down. Back in the real world Back in the other Kathmandu (the newly politicized city where it still takes 10 days to get 5 days' work done) , it's surprisingly mellow, too. Following the earthquake in Sichuan Province (China/Tibet), the Tibetan government has asked all protestors to refrain from demonstrating for at least the coming week, in deference to the quake victims. However, the hunger strikers continue at Swayambhu. Here's a photo of some of the Kopan nuns taking their turn (they are on 24 hour rotating shifts). The International Herald Tribune ran an article declaring the "Chinese" earthquake has overnight turned the Chinese oppressors into victims and put a damper on the Tibetan voices of protest. What most people don't seem to realize is that Qiang prefecture/Sichuan province is part of northeastern Tibet, and thousands of Tibetans were also affected by the situation. Equally disconcerting is the thinly disguised glee with which people are pronouncing the Beijing Olympics "safe" ("Earthquake mutes Tibetan voices"). All the same problems of inequity pre-existing in these areas of Chinese Tibet will extend to the post-quake situation (unequal access to resources, Han favouritism and so on). Here is the statement from Students for a Free Tibet Delhi on the situation. It is encouraging to see the incredible rescue efforts and increasingly open media reporting taking place in China, but we have heard almost no information about relief efforts in the affected Tibetan areas. However, on the day the earthquake struck, the regional government issued an urgent official document entitled “Combining work on anti-separatism and safeguarding stability with disaster relief work.” Considering the Chinese government's history of systematic oppression and disenfranchisement of Tibetans, we are gravely concerned that Tibetans impacted by the disaster will not receive equal consideration and assistance ---------------- Now playing: War - Low Rider via FoxyTunes
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Earthquake in China
http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/05/earthquake-i...Jennifer asked me to pass this on. It is an email from her friend who is experiencing the earthquake from inside China. The death toll is beyond my ability to comprehend. Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers) advised us to tell our children to "look for the helpers" in times of disaster. Seems they are finally going to let some helpers in. Brave souls, those inside and those trying to help. Love.
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Xenofobische nationalisten?
http://furankufunku.blogspot.com/2008/05/xenophobic-national...Dan toch nog maar iets kleins met betrekking tot de China-situatie. Nu ik wat meer bezoekers heb, kan ik net zo goed ook wat meer posten. De laatste dagen verschijnen er talloze artikelen in de International Herald Tribune over de 'Chinese perestoika'. Xenophobic nationalists? by Daniel A. Bell China's glasnost by Nicholas D. Kristof Bell biedt ons een interessante kijk op de nieuwe generatie Chinese intellectuelen. Beide Kristof en Bell zijn temidden van deze unieke situatie in de moderne Chinese geschiedenis zeer optimistisch over de toekomst van China. Optimisme doet mij natuurlijk altijd goed, maar realisme is ook een criterium. Het is gewoon een feit dat China geen ontwikkeling zal doormaken zoals de Sovjet Unie ten tijde van Glasnost. Ik vind dan ook dat er voorzichtig omgegaan dient te worden met deze termen. De pers mag dan in de eerste instantie 1 - 0 hebben gescoord tegen de overheid, in de tweede instantie heeft de overheid de situatie gebruikt om met succes hun populairiteit verder te ontwikkelen. En dat was nu juist wat er in Rusland mankeerde; de algemene populairiteit van de regering. Quake in China reverses fortunes for dissonant Tibet voices by Elisabeth Rosenthal Rosenthal schrijft een interessant artikel over de situatie van de Free-Tibet activisten na deze aardbeving. Heel belangrijk is dat ze opmerkt dat er zich eigenlijk een soort nieuwe generatie Tibet-aanhangers heeft gevormd. "'In '87 a lot of the talent was still in Dharamsala, but by 1999, most of those people had migrated to Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.,' said Patrick French, a former executive of the Free Tibet Campaign and author of 'Tibet, Tibet.' 'In the West, such people started lobbying and taking action,' he said. 'They represent an American version of how the Tibet problem should be solved.'" Deze mengeling van tweede generatie balling-Tibetanen en de fanatieke westerse democratisering-idee is volgens mij gevaarlijk. Laat ze zich maar mooi koest houden en het woord overlaten aan de Dalai Lama.
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Pausa
http://sinico.blogspot.com/2008/05/pausa.html"Quake in China reverses fortunes for dissonant Tibet voices", Elisabeth Rosenthal no IHT.
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Quake in China reverses fortunes for dissonant Tibet voices
http://expo2008china.edublogs.org/2008/05/22/quake-in-china-...“The shift is, partly, tectonic. An earthquake in Sichuan Province killed more than 51,000 Chinese, evoking an outpouring of global sympathy for China and turning it overnight from victimizer to victim.” Although China may not be as brutally critiscized as it was before, the Tibetans still wish to pressure China into giving them independence. Pro-Tibetan groups are also having trouble holding on to the support they have, and they are currently trying to keep the attention of their supporters. Tibet is beginning to lose the limelight, but they are working hard to get it back. Tibet has also attempted to campaign to sponsors like coca-cola, urging them to consider withdrawing their support unless the torch doesn’t pass through Tibet. However, these attempts are not very successful. to see the article please click here Authored by najeer. Hosted by Edublogs.
